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To start with I would like to say that I will not compare this anime to its original manga. For two reasons first I have not read it and also because I believe that an anime needs to have a certain likability to both the non-reader and the reader alike.

"What are your three wishes?"

Story: Although I must say, this story was quite different then what I expected going in. If you asked me about Ghost before I watched it I would have asked if you meant that Priest one. So going in I had almost no preconceived notions of what it was about. So ... I was surprised that the opening episodes were so engaging. They were all different from each other making them enjoyable. But as it the story carried on I learned that it was a little bit like driving a car. The story would go really fast and then slow down, sometimes almost drag every two episodes. The drag time was considerably longer then the excitement. There was even a batch of episodes in the middle that were the same. I don't know if one would not put this together if they were watching it as it was airing, but it was something I noticed watching a few each night.

On top of that, it was also one for ridiculous story telling elements that made you scratch your head. All in all I give the story a 5.

Art:
I will admit that I like this style of art. If find it attractive to look at. Besides the characters the backgrounds and worlds were well constructed. The animation did not start off really well. It was like watching one of those American shows where there is a sweep episode near the end that needs to be stronger. After episode 20 or so I thought the animation quality was higher. I would also like to add that the outfits were amazing.
I give the art an 8.

Sound:
The opening was very good. I really enjoyed the song, although it suffered from what I like to call long opening syndrome. That is pretty self explanatory but it is where, the opening is too long. So it was a little hard to watch it over and over after 15 or so times. The ending was also enjoyable. The sounds during battle were excellent, otherwise the music faded into the background a little.
I give the sound a 7

Character:
This was a little difficult. I thought that the main character and the cast of antagonists were horribly cliche. They could have fallen out of any anime and found themselves quite happy here. They were not vivid or original, they were pretty much cookie cutter characters. The same though goes for the priests, they were just simple personalities coughed up in the forum of priests.
For characters: 6

Enjoyment: All in all it was a pretty good anime, certainly not the best I have seen. The episodes that actually moved the story on were good. Otherwise some were rather tedious or had a filler feel to them.
Enjoyment I give a 7.

Overall:
It was interesting, it was different, and it was cliche. That is what killed it. It was a good concept that was just horribly placed out. It was almost like please give us a second season, we really want it. For all the ups and downs it was quite the trip.

The short run:

Pros- Goods backgrounds, great music, nice outfits, and towards the end well made battles.

Cons- Cookie cutter characters, poor story direction, and too much drag time in plot.

Overall I give it a 6.

My review is not all on the positive side, I don't know whether I see it from a different angle. But take it for what it is, for this is perhaps a different opinion.

Advantages: Good character construction; Beautiful Scenery

Disadvantages: Long wait periods; No active plot line; depressing; cold characters towards one another.

"A good job is the constant pile up of simple duties." Henrietta

The characters in the anime are well thought out and quite honestly beautifully crafted. They are well made in the sense that they have both skills and flaws instead of just one or the other like in most animes. The are ... given back stories and pretty straight forward reactions to events, even if the reactions are not what you expected.

The graphics are very pretty and well done. THe shots are in line with the way an actual gun fires and the music adds to the effects. Despite being kind of classical that you might actually want to sleep to. Those are the upsides to this anime.

But when you looks at the flaws, it is hard to see how it is so popular. My biggest pet peeve is that the episodes don't follow any kind of storyline. There is an episode for each character that doesn't move forward in any overarching plot.

The camera will sit on some images for a really long time, some episodes you spend one third the time watching the sky or the grass or some random image, while the characters wait for the mission to commence. Which is kind of obnoxious, and since the music is as slow as the talking scenes you can't watch this when you are tired.

Another thing is that the over mood of Gunslinger Girl is kind of depressive. Nothing positive is ever portrayed and quite honestly the girls are treated like trash. Which is something that the anime really doesn't need.

In this anime being less then perfect makes everyone cold towards you, so bless the stars that you dare mess up anything.

I like action anime and drama but I just found this kind of sad. Lacking in any plot construction.

It is almost a blessing it is so short.

Inncent Venus is placed in a very hard section of anime that it is forced to content with. Since the anime has a mecha theme it is commonly compared up to the standards of other mecha anime. But this story offers a little heart, for a minii-series.

Story- The story is based around on of those commonly used ideas. It is almost like the creators took a bunch of commonly used ideas and pinned them to the wall, turn around a threw some darts at them. The darts that stuck became the plot. But for having traditional development with a typical plot, it was quite an ... interesting angle to follow the story form.

For you were not simply gifted with the ideas of those that were central to the story but you go to see into the lives of the other side as well. That adds a fuller picture to what is going on in the plot.

So yes it does have a military, on the run, mecha feel to it, but it brings to the table a story seen from all angles, that offers you to see into hte minds of not only the leads but those who oppose them.

The overarching plot is really good and something I have have never seen before in an anime.

When You finish the anime and then go back though it you can find those little details that you missed the first time. Especially in the opening sequences.

Art- The art of this anime is beautiful. Everything look really well polished, when I was first looking at this anime I read a review in a magazine, there they said that they hired people who have never made mecha before to make the ones for Innocent Venus. I think that really came out. THe Mecha were believable and they moved well. They also didn't have the problem that mecha usually have where they look like they were obviously made somewhere else then that frame. What I mean is they interacted with the environment well.

Sound: With the exception of the opening, I can't recall there being any really amazing sounds. The opening was not moved in the direction of the song but the song seemed to couple the images well. Almost as though it were written for the images.

Characters- The characters were all stock characters with a little growth added for good measure. But that doesn't make them bad characters, just a little predictable. Although a few of the characters are well developed and deserve to be awarded for that.

Enjoyment: The scenes are fast paced and the battle sequences are well timed, not spending too much time fighting but making each fight enjoyable. The dialog was amazing and very witty at times. IT is a plot that you can keep watching over and over because it just has that simple pleasure to it.

I would urge you to try it and see if you like it.

The rest is up to you.

This anime was one I happened to stumble upon when I was looking for something to watch. I was looking for a horror-ish anime, and then I remembered reading a review for Jigoku Shoujo. So I figured that it couldn't hurt to check it out.

I was captivated by the simple plot that grew and progressed as the story developed. But it moved to slowly sometimes and then forced a lot on you as you moved towards the end. I also though that the side characters leading the story were a little weak or sometimes down right obnoxious.

There are sound ... cues in it that remind you of the event or begin to symbolize events all together.

Suprising the lead characters were well designed and had more personality then I would have expected. The dialogue was was either dark and humorless to sometimes being downright funny.

The art was fantastic, everything was well polished and time was spent on the details of the little things. The opening was amazing, it was really beautifully done, more to captivate though then to open it.

Altogether thought,
it was a really nice anime, clever for there is nothing like it.
I would suggest it, but get about half way though before you find out it isn't for you. For the plot doesn't get moving until then. :)

Suzune